The Mario Tornado is the name given to Mario's Down Special in the first two installments of the Super Smash Bros. series. In Brawl, his Down Special was replaced, and Mario Tornado became his Down Aerial instead. The move involves him rotating rapidly with his fists outstretched. It is a multi-hit attack, and the last hit can spike in the original SSB64. This attack's knockback was always the same in the original Super Smash Bros., regardless of the enemy's damage. However in Super Smash Bros. Melee the knockback increased with the opponent's damage. By pressing the Special Attack button rapidly, Mario would rise up in the air slightly and give him a slight recovery chance.

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Dr. Tornado

Dr. Tornado is one of Dr. Mario's special attacks in the game Super Smash Bros. Melee. The attack is executed by pressing Down + B. Dr. Tornado has the same effect as the Mario Tornado, except that it is a little stronger. The special attack traps the victim into a tornado, punches them constantly, and then smashes them up into the air when the move is done. The attack can also very lightly pull someone near into the Tornado. Unlike Mario Tornado, Dr. Tornado throws them in a random direction, rather than straight up. Dr. Mario is able to hover in the air when using this attack, by holding the B Button while using it. Also, Dr. Mario doesn't yell "Yahoo!" or "Yee-haw!" when performing the attack, unlike Mario, but for some reason, the "Yee-haw!" effect can still be heard as one of Dr. Mario's sounds in the Sound Test menu and when he uses his back to a tornado.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario's Down B has been replaced with F.L.U.D.D.. In the DOJO!!update revealing this change, a screenshot of the Mario Tornado is shown with the accompanying caption: "He still seems to have this move, though. Eh? Is it a normal attack?!" The E For All demo revealed that the Mario Tornado is now, in fact, Mario's down aerial move. The attack is quicker, but the damage is actually unchanged. In fact, this can be an effective KO move when used in midair if the opponent is hit at the very end of the tornado.

Because of it being an aerial attack, it does not affect his falling speed, but it can slightly stop his momentum when Mario is knocked into the air. Also, you must be careful if you try to short hop the move, in case you accidentally fast fall as it is a down aerial. It is also the only Down B to be replaced by another move.

Origin

The Mario Tornado is probably based on the Spin Jump that originated in Super Mario World. When the player presses the R button, Mario will spin around and jump, which would bounce harmlessly off certain enemies, kill some that usually require more than one hit and break certain blocks. The move has been one of Mario's signature moves since then. The form in the Smash series where he stretches out his fists in addition may have been based on the Tornado Jump from Paper Mario, but that was released over a year after the original, where Mario preformed it. In Super Mario 64, Mario could spin similarly to Mario Tornado, but it was used to slow down his descent instead of jumping. In Super Mario World, if he had his Cape he would be able to spin around which could damage certain enemies and break blocks, and if Mario did the Spin Jump while running, he would go exteremely high (depending on how long the player held down the button). In the later game, Super Mario Galaxy, he also has a spinning attack similar to this, it would also give him a short boost in height. More recnently, the Spin Jump from Super Mario World reappeared in New Super Mario Bros. Wii with even more similarities to Mario Tornado.

Trivia

Technically speaking, this move is the only Special Move that can be used by a generic enemy, namely the Yellow Alloy, although at the time, Yellow Alloy is copying Mario's Brawl moveset as opposed to his Melee moveset, in which the Mario Tornado was still a Special Move. It is not, however, the only Special Move that can be used by any non-playable character, since Giga Bowser shares his moveset with Bowser.